--- title: Donald Trump: Private Memo Details GOP Plan If He's Nominee description: A private memo released Wednesday outlines how 2016 Senate candidates should best handle the situation if Trump wins the nomination. canonical: https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-02T22:10:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:52.218Z article:section: Politics og:title: Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated og:description: "Consider featuring a candidate in a field ripping up a rotten tree stump" og:url: https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ec4482db6068798/698873662dce0192169e6bbf/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated twitter:description: "Consider featuring a candidate in a field ripping up a rotten tree stump" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ec4482db6068798/698873662dce0192169e6bbf/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-07-23. Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2015 10:10 PM UTC  Donald Trump seen during a campaign rally in Macon, Ga., Nov. 30, 2015. Donald Trump seen during a campaign rally in Macon, Ga., Nov. 30, 2015. Christopher Aluka Berry—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 2, 2015 10:10 PM UTC A key Republican operative outlined in a private memo in September how GOP Senate candidates should respond if Donald Trump wins the party’s nomination. In a [seven-page memo](http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/memo-on-donald-trump-from-ward-baker-to-nrsc-senior-staff/1898/) obtained by the Washington _Post_, Ward Baker, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, says the party “should prepare for 2016, by understanding the environment and recognizing the Trump phenomenon.” The letter goes on to suggest a series of tactics GOP Senate candidates should take to both capitalize on Trump’s success and distance themselves from his more controversial rhetoric. It begins by saying that “Trump is a misguided missile” and urging candidates to “not be tied to him so closely that we have to engage in permanent cleanup or distancing maneuvers.” “} –> In a section on “Trump and Women” Baker quotes the Apollo 13 mission: “Houston, we have a problem.” It advises candidates to simply state that their wives and daughters were offended if they are asked about a controversial Trump statement and move on. But the memo also says that Trump’s rise in the polls “exists because Washington politicians promise change, but don’t deliver. _Your job is to deliver_. In the past two cycles it was easy to say, ‘Washington’s broken’ but in 2016, you need to demonstrate that you’ll rip up the rotten roots and begin anew. To get on that reformist wave, advance clear-cut reforms that change the way Washington works.” The letter mentions some specific ways candidates should engage with their electorate — “Consider doing some of the jobs the workers do in the machine shops, small businesses, and factories you visit,” Baker writes. Or: “Consider visuals that communicate change and reform… Consider featuring a candidate in a field ripping up a rotten tree stump so the field can be cleared and planting can be done.” **Read Next:** [_Karl Rove Won’t Rule Out Donald Trump Nomination_](http://time.com/4132504/karl-rove-donald-trump/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated","datePublished":"2015-12-02T22:10:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:52.218Z","description":"A private memo released Wednesday outlines how 2016 Senate candidates should best handle the situation if Trump wins the nomination.","url":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","republicans","2016 Election","RNC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ec4482db6068798/698873662dce0192169e6bbf/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ec4482db6068798/698873662dce0192169e6bbf/donald-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Donald Trump","creditText":"Christopher Aluka Berry—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/","name":"Private Memo Details Republican Plan If Trump is Nominated"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch The Best Quotes By Donald Trump","description":"Donald Trump's Most Ridiculous Quotes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7MzTpVq2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-23T21:38:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7MzTpVq2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4133684/republican-memo-donald-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```